


Smiling at the Unknown

by anniesardors



Category: Chicago PD (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 02:01:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29199528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anniesardors/pseuds/anniesardors
Summary: Missing scene from 8x05: Jay and Hailey talk about Kim fostering Mikayla and their own thoughts about children in the future.
Relationships: Jay Halstead & Hailey Upton, Jay Halstead/Hailey Upton
Comments: 6
Kudos: 88





	Smiling at the Unknown

**Author's Note:**

> Hello lovelies! Big thanks to the Anon on Tumblr who left a prompt for a story about upstead talking about Mikayla and having a conversation about having kids. This was a fun prompt to write!
> 
> This story is really personal to me, especially Hailey's perspective, so I greatly enjoyed writing this and it holds a special place in my heart now! 
> 
> The title comes from the song "The Unknown" by Athlete
> 
> WARNING: There is mention of domestic violence and abuse in this story! 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

"So, Kim and Mikayla."

Hailey's voice is nothing more than a lower murmur, barely louder than the TV in her living room. After a long day of work, she and Jay settled down at her place to relax, watching the highlights of the hockey game they missed the previous night. An empty beer bottle Jay finished moments ago is sitting on the coffee table next to their dinner plates, with Hailey still slowly sipping her half-empty beer. She is pressed into Jay's side on the couch, his arm absentmindedly draped over her, his fingers lightly tapping at her shoulder.

"Yeah-" Jay breathes out, eyes still fixed on the screen. "She's doing a good thing. Kim is gonna be a good mom."

Hailey mulls over his words, a small smile playing on the corner of her lips as she thinks how good a mom Kim is going to be. That woman has the largest heart of anyone Hailey has ever known and there is no doubt in her mind that she is going to be good for Mikayla.

"You ever think of having kids?" Hailey hates the question the second it is out of her mouth because it is not a question you are supposed to be asking after a mere eleven days of dating. Eleven days in it's still supposed to be just fun and flirty and making out literally everywhere. Eleven days in should not be knowing each other's deepest darkest secrets and having conversations about babies.

But they are cops and their lives are hectic and their relationship has been anything but ordinary, so yeah, here they are, eleven days in, having that conversation.

Hailey nervously picks at the label of the beer she is drinking as Jay pauses the Tv, tilting his head to look at her. "Yeah...yeah, I want kids. You?"

"I think so, yeah." She stares at her lap and watches his hand, the one not lightly tracing images on her shoulder, find its way to her knee. "You know, one day, with the right guy, I think I could see myself having kids."

He hums and while neither of them is outright saying it, the connotation of their words is clear: they want to have kids and if they are going to have kids, they are going to do so together. They have not had a lot of conversations about the future, save a discussion they had three days after he kissed her in that bar where they finally defined the relationship. That night, Jay confidently whispered "This is it for me" to Hailey and when she thinks about those words, she still gets butterflies, because this is it for her too.

"Would you ever consider fostering?"

If the question catches him off guard, he does a good job of hiding it, because his face does not change as he answers softly. "Never thought about it. I'd be open to it though. You?"

She picks at the beer label again, the paper now turning mushy from the condensation outside the bottle. "Yeah." She tells him, turning her gaze to his face. "I've thought about it a lot actually-since I was a kid."

He raises an eyebrow in question, but he does not respond, a silent invitation for her to continue.

A low breath escapes her lips as she starts. "When I was in middle school, there was this girl, Nikki, who was in foster care. Her home life had been really rough so she got removed and placed in a group home. It made me think a lot about...about calling someone and telling them what my dad did. Because then maybe we would get removed too."

His face softens and he takes the beer bottle out of her hand, placing it on the coffee table in front of him. He interlaces their fingers, an unspoken sign of support for the difficult memory she has shared.

"What happened?" He asks.

Hailey sighs again. "There was this thing my dad used to say whenever he thought one of us might tell people what he was doing. 'The devil you know is better than the devil you don't.'"

The truth was, Hailey tried to reach out, once or twice, but no one believed her. Eventually, she became scared to make a proper report because what would happen when someone came to investigate their home and they didn't find enough evidence of the violence to remove her and her brothers and it all just made her father beat them harder? Or what happened if they took her and her brothers away and they were separated? Or what if they just went from one abusive situation to another.

So, they stayed with the devil they knew.

"I guess it all-" She continues, trying to move past the difficult thoughts of her father. "It made me want to help kids who were in the same situation. "Because the system sucks and I just want to be there for some kid who needs it."

Today, with Miguel, something in Hailey was brought back to her teenage self, scared and doing whatever she needed to do to survive a world that would not cut her a break. And she was lucky enough to survive and she worked her butt off to make a better life for herself. Now, with that better life, she thinks she could help a kid like her.

"You're amazing, you know that?" He whispers. She shrugs, a shy smile creeping on her face as he continues. "You're going to be a really good mom, Hailey."

Her shy smile grows to a warm, full one and she tells him. "Thanks. You're gonna be a great dad."

She does not know much about what it takes to be a good father, but she knows Jay Halstead has it. He is kind and caring and firm and gentle and it might be far too early to tell him this, but he is the only person she could ever see herself having children with.

And it's that fact that brings a light feeling to her chest and makes her ask him, "Can I tell you something?"

"Of course."

"Remember that case we worked like a year ago down on the west side? That drug bust where there was a kid inside the house and we brought him back to the station until his aunt from New York could get here."

"Leo. I remember." He tells her, running through the memories of the case in his own head.

She hums. "I thought you looked really hot with a kid."

During the initial bust, it had been Jay who had found Leo, hidden in a closet, terrified. After that, the boy bonded with the detective and did not leave his side until his aunt came to get him. Throughout the whole day, where Jay went, so did Leo. By the afternoon, Jay and Leo were in the breakroom, coloring together and looking at pictures of Will's dog, Kol, on Jay's phone while sharing some snacks that Trudy had left for them.

"Hailey, we weren't even dating yet" He points out with a laugh.

"Still thought you were hot."

"Yeah?" He asks and raises his eyebrow suggestively, but she lightly slaps his shoulder with a laugh.

"Well, as long as we are sharing secrets." He says when her giggles subside. "You know that picture of you and your nephew you have on your dresser?"

She nods, knowing the picture he is referring to. It's a picture of her and her nephew, Miles, on his first birthday. She is holding the happy toddler in her arms, his small face still covered in cake that he is trying to feed to his aunt.

"I really like that picture," Jay tells her. "You look good with a baby."

She smiles at his words, pressing a light kiss to his cheek. There is an airy, flirty feeling in her chest and it's probably too early to say what she says next, but she doesn't care. "Well, maybe one day we will both look good with a kid."

Hailey knows Jay is aware of what she is referring to, even if she is not straight out saying it. Maybe one day they will have a child of their own and they will both be ridiculously happy.

"Yeah. I think we will."

His response makes her heart skip a beat and she lets go of their intertwined hands on her lap, raising her hand to grab his off of her shoulder, wrapping herself even further into his embrace. He sighs contently when her head finds a spot on his chest and he kisses the top of her head.

"Well, for right now we are just Aunt Hailey and Uncle Jay." She laughs. By being taken in by Kim, Mikayla is inheriting several pseudo aunts and uncles from the intelligence unit. As excited as Kim was for this new opportunity, so were all of her friends to be able to support her along the way and love on that little girl. "I told Kim we would grab some stuff for her and drop by with it this weekend."

"Okay...I'm going to be the cool uncle." Jay tells her. "I'm going to teach her to do all of the cool things Kim doesn't want her to do."

Hailey shakes her head against Jay's chest. "Kim will kill you, you know that?"

He hums in response, knowing fully well that Kim will one hundred percent kill him if he corrupts Mikayla. There is a beat of silence before he says, "You know those cars that kids have? The ones that they can drive in their backyards?"

"Yeah?"

"We should get Mikayla a truck."

Hailey smiles at the idea of a small Mikayla driving a toy truck around, pretending to be a cop like Kim and the rest of them. "Well, as long as we are turning her into little versions of ourselves, I am going to buy her a bunch of flannel shirts."

"Kim is really going to kill us isn't she?" Jay asks with a chuckle.

"Yeah, but Mikayla is going to love us."

They continue discussing their plans for Mikayla. Jay says that he, Adam, and Kevin will teach her to ride a bike and Hailey says she can't wait to spoil her at Christmas and her birthday. And the more plans and ideas they talk about- tea parties and movie nights and showing her all around Chicago-the more excited Hailey gets, not only for doing all of these things with Mikayla but also for one day doing these things with her own children.

With her and Jay's children.

And she knows it's early and their conversation about children was vague, but as a detective, she has learned to trust her gut. And her gut is telling her this thing with Jay is real and it's forever and one day they will have their own children to experience life with.

It's only eleven days in, but she knows they have a lot of days ahead of them. Days she wants to be filled with happiness and laughter and children and them.

It's been eleven days, but sitting here in his warm embrace, talking about the potential of a future, it makes her want a million more days with him.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments/kudos are always appreciated! 
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr @anniesardors to leave more prompts or to talk all things upstead/chicago pd!


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